Smooth transition for Batavia
Cole Gardner is no Allen Iverson, but the two might have one thing in common when it comes to practice.
While the former NBA All-Star famously dissed practice, Gardner had a good reason for only having three practices under his belt when the Bulldogs opened their season hosting the 36th annual Ken Peddy Windmill City Classic against Crystal Lake South Wednesday night.
Gardner just finished helping the Batavia football team to a 12-1 season and a spot in Saturday's 6A semifinals. He switched his No. 6 football uniform for a No. 30 basketball jersey, then entered the game with 4:27 left in the first quarter to a round of applause from the Batavia crowd.
The 6-foot-6 Gardner scored his first basket 20 seconds later. By halftime he had 11 points and he finished with a game-high 19 as the Bulldogs held on for a 53-49 victory.
That point total included a one-hand dunk on a fourth-quarter fastbreak on a feed from junior Jake Pollack matching Gardner's slam total as a junior.
Not bad for three practices.
"Players play," is how Batavia coach Jim Roberts described Gardner's return.
"I think he played very within himself. Played smart, very smart. Got himself to the point he was going to finish strong and his teammates found him."
An All-State football player, Gardner also is a handful on the basketball court. He said the transition was easier this year.
"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Gardner said. "I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be. (The hardest part) is it's kind of hard to stop the physicality."
Roberts brought Gardner and two other football players Zach Strittmatter and Micah Coffey off the bench midway through the first quarter. The Bulldogs scored 12 points in each of the first three quarters in a game that was tight throughout. Batavia led 12-10 after one, 24-22 at halftime and the game was tied 36-36 after three.
Pollack, who opened the game with a 3-pointer, made a difficult reverse shot in traffic and a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs ahead 41-36.
Batavia hit just 6 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter including missing a pair of 1-and-1s. The Gators capitalized and closed within 50-48 on a 3 from Will Ahsmann with 1:01 left.
After two more Batavia misses at the line, the Gators had a chance to tie but also missed a 1-and-1. Coffey hit 2 free throws with 24.4 seconds left and Pollack after missing his first four at the line swished a final free throw with 9 seconds to go to give Batavia a two-possession lead.
Mike Carlson added 8 points for Batavia (1-0). Strittmatter didn't score but had 4 assists, 3 steals, 6 rebounds and one emphatic blocked shot.
"I think all of our kids came in with the right attitude and are just trying to get better," Roberts said. "The one thing that didn't show in the final score, they beat us to the 50-50 balls and that's something we have to work on. That and our free throws."
Max Meitzler led the Gators with 15 points.
"We competed," Crystal Lake South coach Dan DeBruycker, a Batavia grad, said. "We put ourselves in a hole a couple times. I'm proud of our guys to come back. We need to do a better job on the interior on defense and rebound a little better."